Nikolaus Dietrich presents a general model for the understanding of space in Greek paintings, based on an analysis of landscape elements in Attic vase painting of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Our concept of space in landscapes proves to be completely unsuitable for understanding these motifs. Space in Greek paintings is not an earlier stage in the development of the concept we have employed since the Renaissance, but a completely different one, and a clear indication of the cultural relativity of our way of seeing things.

Nikolaus Dietrich, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.